Just two days before the opening battle of the pioneer's new season, an American reporter threw a regular question to Yang Longson, "Routine premiere, what do you expect from yourself?"
Yang Longson thought for a moment, "There is nothing too great in the mood, it is to train well and prepare for the next game."
For all newly entering the NBA, the first regular game of his career was very hard to play, even for the year's Taoyuan Yao Ming with only 0 points, 2 basketball boards and 1 assist.
Beijing time October 23, at the Portland Modah Center Hall, pioneers in the opening battle with 118 to 114 unbeatable forest wolves, failed to welcome the new season opening. In this game, Yang Longson replaced the battle for 5 minutes, got 2 points, 1 basketball board, with such a score officially opened his NBA career.
As the third Chinese player to enter the league directly through the first round of the NBA after Yao Ming and Yi Jing, Yang Longson was selected in the 16th row by Portland, his move in the United States has been the attention of tens of millions of Chinese fans, and the first official game of the new season is of course also the focus of attention. In fact, in addition to the expectations of Chinese fans, the pioneer of the "Lotto" has won Yang Yang Longson is also looking forward to the young Chinese midfielder can bring to the team not only the attention outside the pitch, but also the fighting power on the pitch.
"I believe that the first official game will be remembered by Yang Hansen for the rest of his life. No matter what the result of the game, I am excited for Yang Hansen." Blazers coach Chauncey Billups talked about his expectations for Yang Hansen before the game."To be honest, I didn't feel that Yang Hansen was nervous about the first game. For his age, he is very mature."
After experiencing the experience of summer leagues and preseason, Yang Hansen has indeed made significant improvements in his psychological and physical condition. After all, as he said, the entire game in his first preseason game against the Warriors was his "welcome to the NBA" moment. At that time, several veterans of the Warriors took turns to "teach" Yang Hansen. In the end, he ended his preseason debut with 4 points and 6 fouls; However, in the second game, Yang Hansen quickly made adjustments and scored 14 points on 5 of 5 shooting in the third quarter against the Kings; when he met the Warriors again in the third game, Yang Hansen had become a lot calmer. Although the data of 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 blocked were not eye-catching, 6 rebounds was his new high in the preseason; However, in the closing game of the preseason, Yang Hansen quickly accumulated 6 fouls in 15 minutes and did not score a single rebound.
Such ups and downs are not a bad thing for Yang Hansen. The tears he shed on the bench in the preseason have already illustrated the impact of those challenges on the court. Yang Hansen himself said that what he can do is to continue to make progress and make up for his deficiencies. "Physical fitness is much better than before, and it really feels much lighter than before."
With these visible changes, Yang Hansen stood on the stage of the regular season. In 7 minutes and 13 seconds of the first quarter at home against the Timberwolves, Yang Hansen came off the bench. The applause from the audience already demonstrated the fans 'expectations for him. In the nearly three-minute appearance time, Yang Hansen did not have much eye-catching performance. He was mainly responsible for his teammates 'pick-and-roll movements, but there was a three-second violation.
About eight minutes later, Yang Longson returned to the first round of the pitch, causing his opponent to break the rules on the inside line, and then opened his NBA career score account in two penalties. However, in a later round, Goebbels gave Yang Longson a big hat, so that he "welcomed" Yang Longson to the NBA, and then, during the defense process, McDaniel's blocked Yang Longson and sent a welcome gift to the young man.
It is not difficult to see from the first half of the regular season debut that as Klingen's substitute, Yang Hansen's primary task on the court is to do a good job as a "blue-collar player", protect rebounds and create space for teammates through pick-and-roll runs. The "dealing" at the top of the three-point line arc, which he is good at, may not have many opportunities to perform at the beginning of the season. Billups has also emphasized more than once that Yang Hansen wants to help the team in more ways, and he needs to better communicate with his teammates on the field.
In the past few months since he came to the United States, in addition to adapting to the intensity and pace of NBA training and games, Yang Hansen's biggest challenge has been language proficiency. Before the start of the new season, he also admitted that he was working hard to learn English. Although "most situations still rely on guessing," he was gradually able to communicate individually with coaches and teammates.
In fact, Yang Hansen's English level is not the only criterion to judge his integration into the team. Blazers player Avdia said in an interview that he can already speak "left hand" and "right hand", so as to communicate with Yang Hansen the position and direction of pick-and-roll and breakthrough on the court. Such a detail is enough to show that the integration of Yang Hansen with the team is developing in a positive direction.
In the second half of the first show, the two sides played more and more, and Lupus did not give Yang Longson more opportunities to play.
In the end, the pioneer failed to win the opening door.
Although he is the "lottery player" with the 16th overall pick in the first round, Yang Hansen still needs a process to truly gain a foothold in the cruel NBA League. Even Yao Ming struggled in the first seven games of his first season, with only 0 points and 2 rebounds in his debut. So as Yao Ming advised Yang Hansen,"Don't worry too much, just do everything seriously." Being serious will become your label. While you win favor, you will also be responsible for yourself."
The debut of the regular season is just the beginning. No matter where this dream journey ultimately leads, at least Yang Hansen has taken the first step.